With this, I have completed the trifecta of Pact Magic: the Binder from Tome of Magic serving as a more-than-passable skill-monkey (though he's generally quite flexible in a lot of roles), the Pact Mage serving as a wizard, and this, the Hexenhammer, serving as the front-line warrior.

Scholars of Pact Magic are often persecuted, and so practice in secret. Pact Mages regularly falter under the scrutiny, and usually exist only where their experimentation receives at least slight tolerance. Binders are somewhat hardier, whiling away in hidden lairs, perfecting their contact and control of Vestiges.

To the Hexenhammer, such solitude would be a welcome luxury. Instead, these brazen practicioners of soul binding must train for war against the inquisitors who seek to purge them from this world. Clad in armor and calling upon the Vestiges to grant them unsurpassed martial prowess, Hexenhammers fight back against the burning flames of intolerance.

Their skills should not be mistaken for transparency. Perhaps even more than Binders themselves, Hexenhammers operate in the dark and on the periphery — for a Hexenhammer's occultism ekes out under the most totalitarian of regimes. Their fighting spirit comes not of defiance, but necessity.

Creating a HexenhammerHexenhammers are committed to a dark, difficult path, and are beset on all sides by those who see them as abominations. Their very existence is threatened all too often, and they cannot rely on the powers of Vestiges alone to protect them.

AbilitiesConstitution, the fortitude and determination to overcome the adversities facing them, is of critical importance to Hexenhammers, even more so than the Strength to fight their enemies and the Charisma to work with Vestiges.

AlignmentDespite the extreme conviction of their assailants, Hexenhammers are not inherently Evil — Vestiges are not moral and do not have that much influence over those with whom they make their Pacts. Nonetheless, it is a rare thing for a man or woman devoted to Good to turn to the Vestiges for assistance, especially in the kinds of cultures that produce Hexenhammers. As for Law and Chaos, the witch hammers face a strange dichotomy: they must be ever vigilant and disciplined to survive, but their very existence is a staunch rebellion.

RacesWhere Pact Mages are most likely to come from races that tolerate soul binding to one degree or another, Hexenhammers are the opposite — it usually takes the cauldron of extreme religious persecution to produce a Hexenhammer. As such, there are very few Hexenhammers of any race, but when you look at, say, Dwarves who make Pacts, a disproportionate number are Hexenhammers — because they have to be.

Class Features of the HexenhammerThe following are all class features of the Hexenhammer

Armor and Weapon ProficiencyHexenhammers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with all types of armor and shields (except tower shields).

Soul Binding (Su)As the Binder class feature (see Tome of Magic pg. 10-11), except that a Hexenhammer gains different benefits from her Pacts in the form of martial maneuvers.

A Hexenhammer's Effective Binding Level (EBL) and Initiator Level (IL) are the same; this level is equal to her class level plus half her levels in other classes that do not ordinarily advance either. Any class level that does advance either advances both, so that both remain at the same value. Any class level that would advance both only advances the combined level once. The Maximum Vestige Level column of Table 1: The Hexenhammer refers to a single-class Hexenhammer; a multi-class Hexenhammer would have access to Vestiges as a Hexenhammer of her EBL, rather than her actual class level. This includes the number of Vestiges with whom she may make a Pact; beginning at EBL 9th, this is 2 Vestiges, and at EBL 17th, 3 Vestiges.

The Save DCs of the abilities and maneuvers granted to a Hexenhammer are equal to 10 + ½ EBL + Cha or Con, whichever is higher, even if the maneuver in question would usually use a different formula.

ManeuversA Hexenhammer gains knowledge of maneuvers primarily through her Pacts — each Vestige grants her access to a limited number of maneuvers that she may use. In addition to these Pact-granted maneuvers, a Hexenhammer also learns a few maneuvers of her own, beginning at 3rd level. While Vestiges may grant maneuvers from any discipline or from no known discipline at all, and a Hexenhammer need not meet any of the maneuver's usual prerequisites so long as she maintains the Pact, a Hexenhammer's own maneuvers must be chosen from the Desert Wind, Iron Heart, Shadow Hand, and Stone Dragon disciplines, and the Hexenhammer must meet all of a maneuver's prerequisites, including minimum Initiator Level, before choosing it.

A Hexenhammer's maneuvers use the Save DC formula of Vestige-granted abilities, that is, 10 + ½ IL + Cha or Con, rather than their usual formula.

Beginning at 5th level, and every three levels thereafter (8th, 11th, etc.), a Hexenhammer may choose to 'forget' a maneuver in order to replace it with a new one. The new maneuver need not be the same level as the old, but the Hexenhammer must meet all prerequisites for the maneuver, including its minimum Initiator Level.

Maneuvers ReadiedA Hexenhammer's Pact-granted maneuvers are always considered readied. The Manuevers Readied column of Table 1: The Hexehammer refers to the number of her own maneuvers she may ready in addition to those granted by her Pact. It is possible for a Hexenhammer to know a maneuver granted by her Pact, or for two Vestiges to grant the same maneuver; in these cases, unlike most martial adepts, a Hexenhammer can have the same maneuver readied more than once. However, each of her additional maneuvers readied must be uniquely chosen from her list of maneuvers known, so this situation can only come up when two Vestiges grant the same maneuver or when a Vestige grants a maneuver that the Hexenhammer also knows.

Hexenhammers begin combat with all readied maneuvers unexpended and available, regardless of how often they have been used in the past. When used, each maneuver may not be used again for 5 rounds, at which point it is automatically recovered on the Hexenhammer's turn; this is not even a Free Action, but a non-action, and can take place even if the Hexenhammer is unable to take actions — so long as 5 rounds (thirty seconds) have passed, the maneuver is available once again.

StancesMost Vestiges grant knowledge of a Stance, which the Hexenhammer is considered to "know" for the duration of the Pact. In addition, at 5th level, and again at 10th and 15th, a Hexenhammer may choose to learn a Stance of her own from the Desert Wind, Iron Heart, Shadow Hand, and Stone Dragon disciplines. All of these Stances are available to her, and may be entered as a Swift Action.

Vestigial Determination (Su)So long as she has a Vestige bound to her soul, a Hexenhammer is considered to have the Endurance and Diehard feats. These are considered supernatural abilities, however, as an Anti-Magic Field or Dead Magic Zone suppresses her Pacts.

Summon Suffering (Su)Beginning at 4th level, a Hexenhammer who has at least one Vestige bound to her soul may, as a Swift Action, utilize one of two abilities at will — she may either strike out at her foes or protect her allies.

The first version involves damaging both herself and any one target within Close range (25 ft. plus 5 ft. per 2 Initiator Levels) for nonlethal damage equal to her Initiator Level plus her Constitution modifier. This nonlethal damage is converted to lethal damage for any creatures immune to nonlethal damage (including the Hexenhammer herself, if that be the case for her). Her target is further Shaken, and remains so for five rounds. However, beginning when the target is first affected, and once per round at the beginning of the Hexenhammer's turn thereafter, the target may make a Will save to end the effect early. The save DC is 10 + ½ IL + Cha or Con. This is a Pain-based effect; a Hexenhammer unable to feel pain cannot use Summon Suffering.

The second version involves binding an ally's soul to her own, so that any damage done to that ally for the next round is halved, with any damage not done to the ally done to the Hexenhammer herself but as nonlethal damage (unless she is immune to nonlethal damage, in which case it is lethal). For the Hexenhammer, this is another pain-based effect, but cannot be otherwise mitigated. Any mitigation the ally may have is applied to the damage after it is split, so the Hexenhammer receives no benefit from it. This counts as damage dealt to herself through Summon Suffering for the same of her Malleus Maleficarum, below.

Beginning at 8th level, Summon Suffering may be used to attack two enemies, or shield two allies, or shield one ally while attacking one enemy, all in one use of the ability in one Swift Action. At 13th, this number of targets increases to 3, and then again increases to 4 at 19th level. Even if she attacks multiple enemies with it, she only takes the damage herself once.

Malleus Maleficarum (Ex)When an 8th level Hexenhammer uses a Strike maneuver against a foe she has targetted with Summon Suffering previously in the encounter, she may add nonlethal damage to her strike equal to the sum total of the damage she has taken herself while using Summon Suffering, or she has taken for an ally through any other effect (such as with Shield Other), or healed an ally at the expense of her own HP (such as with Empathic Transfer). If her target is immune to nonlethal damage, then it is lethal. This is a pain-based effect.

If the foe is Shaken, Frightened, or Panicked when struck, that foe is also treated as flat-footed after her attack, until his next turn. Furthermore, if Panicked, the target immediately Cowers, and continues to do so until either the original fear effect(s) wear off, or he succeeds on a DC 10 + ½ IL + Cha or Con Will save, which he may make each round on his turn until he succeeds.

Sealed to the Pact (Su)At 20th level, a Hexenhammer has turned to the Vestiges completely, relying on them for her safety and protection as well as for the power to do what she needs. So long as she has a Vestige bound to her soul, she cannot die. No effect, no amount of damage, nothing can completely kill her until the Pact runs out. If she would otherwise be dead, however, she cannot form a new Pact, so she only has until the current ones run out before meeting her fate.

Further, the circumstances of her death still influence her: if her Constitution score becomes zero or negative, she may take very large penalties due to low Con (including even lower than the usual minimum of -5, as her Con goes below 0). Effects that kill her instantly do bring her to -10 HP, even though her Diehard feat allows her to avoid most of the penalties for that. Effects that destroy her body leave her Incorporeal, but typically without any way of interacting with the physical world, she can do nothing but watch as her time runs out. Effects that destroy, displace, or capture her soul are thwarted by her bound Vestiges, but after the Pact ends she still dies (but naturally, without anything untoward happening to her soul).

However, whenever this feature prevents her from dying, her soul becomes completely owned by the Vestiges. She not only succumbs to their influence and shows their signs as if she had made a bad binding check, she becomes incapable of resisting their influence. Further, in order to take any action that risks ending her Pact early, she must make a successful binding check; if she fails, she immediately takes steps to prevent the early ending of her Pact for one round before attempting to make the binding check again on the next round (assuming she still can and wishes to risk ending her Pact).

Before her Pact runs out, she may be healed to avoid dying once it does, if the cause of death would have been HP or ability damage and her body is still intact. On the other hand, if she was killed directly by some effect (e.g. Finger of Death), no amount of simple healing will save her. In this state she is a valid target for effects that revive the dead, such as Resurrection (but not effects that do other things with dead creatures, such as Animate Dead or Gentle Repose; other requirements of reviving spells, such as having an intact body, still apply). Since she has not actually died, she remains a valid target for Revivify or similar until her Pact ends (and for a short while thereafter, as normal).

If she is affected by an effect that would bring her back to life, her HP and ability scores are brought to a minimum of 1, and she will not die when her Pact runs out. This also has the effect of removing any effects that would have ended when she died, with the exception of her Pacts themselves. Any penalties for a raising, such as level loss, are deferred until her Pact ends, just as death was.

The VestigesEach Vestige that a Hexenhammer may bind grants the Hexenhammer certain martial maneuvers. Not every maneuver is a maneuver actually found in any martial discipline, though most are, but all follow the usual rules for maneuvers. While many are Extraordinary, the Hexenhammer has access to a relatively large number of Supernatural maneuvers. Moreover and probably more importantly, since the Hexenhammer's Pacts themselves are Supernatural, a Hexenhammer loses access to any maneuvers granted by her Pacts while in an Anti-Magic Field or Dead Magic Zone.

All Vestige-granted maneuvers are considered known and readied by the Hexenhammer at all times. A Hexenhammer does not have to meet the maneuver's usual pre-requisites in order to know, ready, and use it, provided she meets the requirements for binding the Vestige that grants it.